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Unstated Affinity

Dharmendra is the owner of a cab business. One day, he got a call from one of his favorite customers.

The customer said, “Your driver is so rude. He has been fighting with us since morning. Can you please arrange for an alternative driver? If you say you cannot, we will have to pick another cab service. You realize that there are a number of cab services in the city today. You have been our service provider for the last few years. So, we thought it’d be good to seek your services. But, I never expected this from your driver. He has been too rash in his driving and when he told him to slow down, he started shouting at us. Now, we made him stop the car here. We are not going to go further with him. Please decide and let us know.”

Dharmendra replied, “I’m extremely sorry for everything that happened. Just give me five minutes. I will send another car and driver who will deal politely with you. Please be assured that we no longer have this irksome driver on board. We will settle our business with him and ask him to leave.”

Dharmendra called up Rishi and said, “Hey Rishi. Can you go to this location and pick up our customers. They are with Raju. But, he has been shouting at them. I think he is drunk again. I’m tired of this chap and his ways.”

Rishi replied, “I’ll go there in a few minutes and take care of them. I will apologize to them too. And, I know you do not like any of us talking about Raju. But, I’d suggest you get rid of him immediately.”

Dharmendra suddenly became furious and said, “You do not need to tell me what I ought to do. I know my job. Please go on with your job.”

Rishi and all the other drivers never understood why Dharmendra was so fond of Raju. In the past few months, the company lost many good customers because of Raju and his drunk driving. A couple of cars were badly damaged in accidents, too. Everything was fine until six months ago. Raju has been a driver with Dharmendra’s company for more than three years. He has been an excellent driver until six months ago. Nobody knew what happened suddenly. Raju changed a lot and became less interested in his job.

Dharmendra summoned Raju to come to the office immediately. He expected Raju to take his own time. After a few hours, Raju came to Dharmendra’s office. Unlike his meeting with other drivers, Dharmendra made sure his meeting with Raju was private and nobody else participated in these meetings.

Dharmendra said, “Why are you doing this? Please stop it.”

Raju laughed aloud and said, “You need to stop it. Speak up. Tell the world about me. Until you do that, I cannot be happy.”

Without waiting to listen to Dharmendra’s response, Raju slammed the door and left the office.

Dharmendra realized that Raju was being irate with the customers so that Dharmendra would let the world know the truth. But, Dharmendra had his own reasons not to let the world know the truth.

The next day, Sunday, was a very busy day. All the drivers were busy with their own trips. One of the most loyal customers, a police officer called up Dharmendra. He said, “Hi Dharmendra, I urgently need a cab to travel out of station. And, it is a covert operation. I hope you understand the situation. It must be like a personal trip in somebody’s name. And, you should not let the driver know that it is a covert police operation. I will let him know when the situation arises. And, your driver will only take us to the location. He will not be part of any operation.”

Dharmendra was worried as there were no cabs available. When he looked over the window, he could see only one cab and it was Raju’s cab.

Dharmendra said, “I can arrange one cab for you. But, the driver has been creating some problems for us. He is important to me. So, I’m not able to be harsh with him. Is it alright to send him? Because, he is the only cab available. You know these Summer Sundays can be really busy for us.”

The police officer, Madhav, said, “You don’t worry about him. I’m a police officer. If he tries to act smart, I’ll clip his wings. I’ll set him right. I just need someone who is energetic, fast, and smart to quickly get this operation done.”

Dharmendra said, “He is one of the youngest and smartest drivers. But, please do not do anything to him. I know his family very well. They are always worried about him. He is very important to me.”

Madhav agreed and he booked the cab.

After disconnecting Dharmendra’s call, Madhav called his friend in the intelligence department. Madhav said, “Hey, there is one small piece of information that I need. This is not related to crime. But, I am just curious as I need to be careful with them. So, can you please gather information about these two people. Dharmendra, owns a cab company and he has been our vendor for a long time. And, then, there is this driver called Raju, who works for Dharmendra. Something is not right with their relationship. Is there anyway we can get that information?”

His friend on the call said, “Give me a few minutes. I’ll dig out the dirt on them and get back to you.”

As Madhav was waiting for the cab, his friend from the Intelligence department called him and said, “Dharmendra is Raju’s father. Actually, Raju’s mother is Dharmendra’s illegitimate wife. They have never married. They were in love before Raju was born. But, Dharmendra had to marry another girl. He has no kids from his wife. So, he searched for Raju and hired him as a his driver three years ago. Six months ago, before her death Raju’s mother told him that Dharmendra was his father. Raju has been very angry on Dharmendra since then and they fought a couple of times. But, Dharmendra was not ready to tell the world that Raju is his son.”

Madhav felt glad he got the chance to solve two cases at the same time.

As expected, Raju came late by more than thirty minutes. Raju expected his customer to shout at him and ask him why he was so late. But, Madhav was smart. He said, “Thanks. I thought no cabs would be available if I called in the last minute. Thanks for coming. I have to rush to my son in the other city. He is studying in the hostel there. He got some fever a few days ago. Now, he is admitted in the hospital and I’m very worried about him. He is only fourteen years old.”

Raju felt glad that there were father like this also, who were polite with everyone and cared for their sons. He felt bad that he came late. He wanted to be nice to this gentleman and help him reach his son sooner.

During the trip, Raju and Madhav talked about many things and bonded for some time.

Madhav said, “My father is my inspiration. He always cared for me. When had no money also, he made sure I ate all the three times in a day. He was the best. I miss him badly.”

Raju thought to himself. I wish I could miss my Dad once. He has been so selfish always. I wish he could change.

After a journey of six hours, Madhav asked Raju to stop at a road side hotel as he wanted to eat something. When Raju went aside, Madhav called Dharmendra and said, “Hey Dharmendra. There is a small change in the plan. I thought I should inform you first. We have to take the driver to the scene. Your driver, Raju, is a very efficient driver and I can use him as a part of this operation. Don’t worry. He will be safe. He might get hurt, a bit, if things go out of our hands.”

Dharmendra did not like what he heard. He said, “How can you change your plans? Please wait. I will arrange for another driver. Raju is not the right guy for these kinds of things. He will spoil your operation completely. And, I told you that he is important to me.”

Madhav said, “We do not have the time. We are already going into the operation. We are just five minutes away from the location where we assume that the terrorists are in a hideout. I have to attack them immediately. And, I cannot disclose the location to you. It is against our rules.”

Without saying anything more, Madhav disconnected the call and switched off his phone.

Dharmendra called up his son Raju and said, “Please come back immediately. Do not go with Madhav. He is a cop. He is going to let you take part in some raid. I can’t see you get hurt. I have always loved you. I could not say anything to the world till date, because, I’m worried about your step mother. She is suffering from cancer. If I tell the world that you are my son, she might kill herself. I want to take care of her these six months while she is alive. Please try to understand me and come back. You have always been the most important thing in the world to me. Despite all this, if you want me to let the world know that you are are my son, I will. But, I want you to be safe.”

Madhav walked towards Raju. He pulled his phone and switched it off.

Madhav said, “Your father is right. I’m a cop. I need your help to attack these terrorists who are in a hideout over there. And, yes, I have a son who is admitted in the hospital with fever. But, he is there in the city where we started. I need to finish this operation successfully and go back to him Will you help me?”

Madhav agreed. The operation was successful. Madhav called Dharmendra, after the operation and said, “You do not need to tell anyone that I’m your son. I’m sorry for everything I did in the last six months. I failed to understand you and your situation. I’m coming, Dad.”